new entry

Back from the break and my whirlwind tour of Georgia and NC. To all who read this whom I didn't get a chance to see (especially Tom and Eric , if you guys ever read this) during the 48 hours I was in Chapel Hill, I'm sorry and really wanted to see you but ran out of time. It was good to be back, albeit briefly. A lot of people, including students, have asked me "Hey, weren't you totally culture shocked upon your return?" I didn't really feel that much of a "shock" aside from the day/night reversal(which I never got over until I got back to japan) and I forgot how easy it was to be in a country where you know how to speak the majority of the language. That has been a bit difficult to readjust to, although it gives me an impetus to study hard (which I have NOT been doing). Roommate is still the same roommate. he keeps trying to interject Japanese into his English sentences, which is rather annoying, as he seems to be doing it to try and show off as opposed to communicating efficiently. He also has bad pronunciation on a number of words, and keeps trying to correct mine by answering any question or comment I say involving a word he "knows"(read: pronounces poorly) how to say and answering with hard emphasis on that word. Pretentious. a bit foolish too.
enough about him. Being back has been ok. I'm slowly understanding more and more on television. I'm really enjoying the game shows involving food, because I really enjoy eating and the people on the game shows really enjoy eating, so I feel a connection, albeit tenuous.
I've been reading a bit. Alison gave me a book buy this guy Laxness(sp?) called Under the Glacier. I enjoyed it, but could probbably been a bit more thorough in my reading, as I only caught about 2/3 of what susan sontag talks about in the book's introduction. I'm currently reading a book by much hyped author David Mitchell, who writes fiction frequently involving Japanese cities. It's quite readable, and I've enjoyed it so far, although it hasn't really blown my mind. I'll report more as I get further in.
I also(at my father's request) began F.A. Hayek's Road to Serfdom. The book has been much maligned by almost everyone I've mentioned it to/read a review from, but so far, Hayek seems like a relatively thoughtful guy with genuine concern for society, although I certainly don't always agree with him. He's often put in the same boat with Milton Friedman(unfortunately they let friedman, who I think is an idiot, write the introduction). If you want to make comments on the book and have read it, please do so.
Next up, more political economy. I never read any Keynes and he was extremely influential in shaping contmporary monetary policy. I need to pick up the wealth of nations again too.
As for philosophy, I'm going to dive into bertrand russel's history of western philosophy in the near future as well.
As for leftist criticism, any new recommendations are welcome.
Enough about reading.
band here is going slowly. vicente and I should be jamming again soon, so we'll see where that goes. I don't know what I'll do this weekend, but it will probably involve going into town and drinking.


zach